


if reminding's what you needed, then here's your (fantasy) post-it note

by sam_txt



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Birthday, Families of Choice, Gen, Zone of Truth, first time writing for taz so sorry if anything is ooc!, i KNOW angus's birthday happened at the wrestling show but i don't really care, shitty mysteries that aren't actually mysteries, the thb break and enter?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24824011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_txt/pseuds/sam_txt
Summary: Angus McDonald likes lists.He has many notebooks dedicated to lists, all of which line the shelves of his room alongside books he’s borrowed from the library. Lists of his favorite Caleb Cleveland books, his favorite Caleb Cleveland characters, mysteries he's solved, mysteries he hasn't solved, times he almost died, his favorite foods, colors, and every other thing in his life he can make a list about. He likes to go through these whenever he gets nervous, which is often. They help remind him that he’s human and he’s allowed to take breaks when he needs to. They help him remember when he worries he’s going to forget.OR, a headcanon dump turned into a bad mystery turned into a birthday fic
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title from "i miss my mum" by cavetown  
> beta read by my friend who knows nothing about taz (love u)

Angus McDonald likes lists.

He has many notebooks dedicated to lists, all of which line the shelves of his room alongside books he’s borrowed from the library. Lists of his favorite Caleb Cleveland books, his favorite Caleb Cleveland characters, mysteries he's solved, mysteries he hasn't solved, times he almost died, his favorite foods, colors, and every other thing in his life he can make a list about. He likes to go through these whenever he gets nervous, which is often. They help remind him that he’s human and he’s allowed to take breaks when he needs to. They help him remember when he worries he’s going to forget.

He has a list of the times for meals and times to water his plants. This list is on a dry erase board and Angus references it often throughout the day. It's been there so long he doesn't even need to worry about accidentally wiping it off, and he isn’t really sure that he needs it anymore. It’s just a matter of habit at this point. He has it because he likes to be organized, and definitely not because his little boy brain can't remember to take care of himself (he is perfectly capable of remembering, and he does not need a list to do so).

After breakfast, he always makes a to-do list on the bottom half of the whiteboard, such as "Complete background check for work" or "Go to magic lesson with Taako at 3 p.m.".

And, of course, his mystery journals! Every case, he makes at least 2 lists: "Things I Know" and "Things I Want to Know". He generates questions, investigates, fills in some gaps and comes up with more questions, interrogates; the cycle goes on. It's a very effective method that has not once failed him.

Except now his notebooks are missing and Angus McDonald is utterly lost.

* * *

Angus wakes up, 7 a.m. sharp (he would wake up at 6, but he tends to have some trouble falling asleep), and blinks the sleep out of his eyes. He's quite comfortable and would rather not get out of bed, but breakfast is starting and he doesn’t want to be late. Grabbing his glasses off of his bedside table, he stands up, socked feet hitting hardwood floor. He gets dressed and glances at the whiteboard, reading the words “7:00 A.M. BREAKFAST”, and sets off to the cafeteria.

When he returns to his room, carton of milk in hand, he freezes in shock and horror at the sight before him. His shelves, previously filled with his meticulously kept notebooks, are empty, and the remaining library books are scattered across the floor. Their pages are bent and folded at awkward angles as if the person who’d done this had tossed them aside with no regard for their safety. The milk hits the floor and spills. Angus’s face twists up like he’s about to cry.

No tears fall, though, because he's a big kid now and big kids don't cry over something as stupid as this. He would laugh if he were in any other scenario—he would be literally crying over spilled milk—but instead he goes into his bathroom and grabs a towel to clean up.

The reminders on the board are gone (he truly doesn’t even need the written schedule, but it’s the _principle_ of having it). The library books are opened face down, ruining the spines. Angus’s favorite bookmark is far away from the book he had last placed it in.

Angus can tell that he’s on the verge of tears and makes a mental list of nicknames he’s been called to distract himself. A smile crosses his face when he thinks of “My Perfect Boy” and it clears his head a bit. Angus feels a little calmer once he finishes the list. The milk is cleaned up. He decides to take this on as his next mystery.

Angus quickly grabs a piece of paper and begins to make, surprise, another list.

THINGS I KNOW:

  * Sometime between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., a person(s) was in my room.
  * While said person(s) was in my room, they erased my whiteboard and stole my notebooks, as well as knocked my library books off of the shelf.
  * Nothing else in the room seemed to have been touched.
  * These people were at breakfast, and therefore have alibis: Killian, Brad, Avi, and Johann.



THINGS I WANT TO KNOW:

  * Why was this person(s) in my room?
  * Who was this person(s)?
  * Why did they erase my whiteboard?
  * How did they erase my whiteboard?
  * Why did they take my notebooks?



A good start, Angus thinks. He entertains the idea of starting a suspect list, but as there are only 5 suspects: Taako, Magnus, Merle, Carey, and The Director, he decides to put it off until he can draw more conclusions about this mystery person(s). First, he should investigate the scene of the crime a bit more thoroughly.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have anything to dust for fingerprints with, and even if he did, he didn't have files for the Bureau members (he should do that, he thinks, and adds it to his to-do list). Angus runs his hands along his empty bookshelf. His pencil case is knocked over, writing utensils scattered along the shelf. Whoever was in here must have left in a hurry. The books on the floor look like they were thrown or dropped. Clearly, the person had an intent to take his notebooks and not the Caleb Cleveland companion novels.

The markers on his whiteboard are rearranged as well. Whereas before they were organized by his favorite colors, now they're in rainbow order. This must have been done before they took his notebooks. If they were in such a rush to get out of his room with the journals, why would they have done something as trivial as rearranging his markers?

He still wonders how they managed to erase his whiteboard. He had tried before, but the marker was practically embedded into the rich lore of the whiteboard by now. Angus grabs his wand (this was his new one, a shitty plastic umbrella from Fantasy Costco that Taako had gotten him as a goof—it looks like Fantasy Scooby-Doo) and points it at the whiteboard. He casts Detect Magic.

Just as he thought! Prestidigitation had been cast, and not long ago. Taako or Merle was here, Angus deduces. The Director doesn’t use magic often, and Carey and Magnus couldn’t use it at all. If one of the THB was here, it isn’t a stretch to assume the other two were as well.

He should go talk to one of them, but he's still a bit frazzled from the fact that his lists are missing. Lunch is at 12, right? Or 12:30? He can't remember (it's right there, come on, he looks at it every day) (his stupid little boy brain could recite you the entire Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop Fantasy Wikipedia page, _why couldn't he remember_?) (oh, well, at least it's not blocked by static, he supposes). Angus glances at the clock and realizes he lost track of time and it’s already 1. He starts, slams his leg on the chair, and scurries out the door.

Angus walks into the cafeteria. He's quite thirsty, so he gets himself a glass of water and a sandwich and sits down. Lunch was an hour ago (or a half an hour ago, he still can’t remember), so the room is empty. Just a little boy and his sandwich and the extreme anxiety that comes from not being in control.

The Tres Horny Boys walk into the cafeteria and Angus ducks his head. Of course, they're always late by 30 minutes. He always passes them on his way back from meals. Lunch was at 12:30.

"Hey, Ango, what're you doing here?" Taako asks, sweeping past him and into the kitchen.

“Nothing, sirs,” Angus says, “Just lost track of time.”

Magnus exchanges a Look with Merle, but Angus can’t even guess what it is. He decides to decode it later.

Magnus sort of shoves his hat down since he can’t ruffle his hair. “Any new mysteries that need solving?” he asks. Taako groans from the kitchen. He probably doesn’t want to hear about it.

“Yes, actually,” Angus says. “Somebody stole the notebooks from my room. They also erased my whiteboard, for some reason. I had the times for meals on there, and when they were gone my brain was so used to looking at the list that I forgot what time lunch was,” he adds, feeling sort of silly. He prepares himself to get made fun of—he knows he’s being childish. Even though he works _so hard_ to be taken seriously, he never is.

Merle clears his throat. “D’ya…want some help on solving the case?”

“Thank you, sir, but I’m perfectly capable of solving this case on my own. I already have quite a few leads. On a completely unrelated note, where were you three from 7 to 7:30 this morning?” Merle, offering to help? That was new… and slightly suspicious.

“We were just sleeping in, pumpkin," Taako says, walking out from the kitchen with a bowl of mac and cheese.

“Yeah,” Magnus agrees.

If anything, Magnus’s statement makes Angus even more suspicious—he must have rolled low. Well, no point wasting time speculating when he had an ace card up his sleeve (along with a crossbow, though he didn't expect to need that). “Zone of Truth!”

“Fuuuck,” Taako groans.

“Now, I’ll ask again. Where were you three from 7 to 7:30 this morning?”

“Your room,” Magnus says. At least he has the decency to look sheepish about it.

And Angus’s worst fears have been confirmed. The three of them broke into his room this morning, cleared his whiteboard (he’s assuming Taako did that, due to the use of magic and the rainbow-ordered markers), stole his notebooks, and then booked it before he returned.

“Why?” And _shit_ , Angus is going to cry—here comes the part where they make fun of his interests. Here’s the part where they mock the fact that his favorite food is Taako’s macrons, the fact that his favorite animal is a duck because of Magnus’s carvings, the fact that Zone of Truth is one of his favorite spells because it reminds him of Merle. They’ll laugh at the fact that he started making lists for more trivial things after he came to the Moon Base, like “Fun Things That Happened at the Bureau” or “List of Cool Animal Facts”, for fear that he would forget them.

“Woah, Angus, why are you crying?” Magnus says, sitting across from him. _Abort abort abort—_

“It’s just that—you all broke into my room—and looked through my private property, I could probably get you in trouble for that, I’m just a little boy after all, and I can yell and yell and yell—and now you’re going to make fun of me for it and I don’t want you to because my lists really help me and—”

“Hey, kid, slow down,” Merle cuts him off. “We aren’t gonna make fun of you. At least, not for being organized. Your posters are kinda dorky, though.”

“Then why were you looking through my stuff? There is no other reason for you to be trying to figure things out about me other than using it as teasing material!” Angus accidentally shouts that. His face is red as he stares at the napkin on the table. It’s just friendly teasing, he knows this, so why is he crying? He sniffles, hoping he doesn't look like as much of a child as he feels.

“The Director told us that your birthday was coming up, and we wanted to do something thoughtful, but you know, we’re kinda shit at that,” Taako says, looking worried. “We were planning on just sneaking around and seeing what things you liked. Magnus found the notebooks and we wanted to take a looksie.”

“That probably was… not a good idea,” Magnus confesses, placing his hand over Angus’s.

“Yeah, no shit.” Angus raises an eyebrow. He’s still upset they looked through his stuff (they broke into his room, what the _fuck_ ) but at least they had good intentions, he guesses? “So, Taako… why did you clear my whiteboard?

“How did you know—nevermind. I thought it was some magic item that couldn’t be erased!” Taako says. “I sorta wanted to draw you something, but we ran out of time. We know that you leave the cafeteria at 7:30, so we had to get the fuck out of there before then.”

Angus stands up. “Well… I appreciate you trying to be nice, but maybe don't break and enter again." He laughs nervously and wipes his nose. "Where are my notebooks?"

"Our dorm," Magnus says. "I'll go get them for you?"

"That would be nice." Angus smiles and looks at the clock. Gosh, it's almost 2 already? "I'm running a bit behind on work. Stop by my dorm in about an hour?"

"Sounds good."

Angus is back in his room. _Maybe the list on the whiteboard wasn’t such a good thing_. He shrugs and writes it on a Fantasy Post-It note instead, sticking it on his bulletin board next to an advertisement for the Caleb Cleveland Kid Cop musical. The musical is very good—Angus has every song on the soundtrack memorized. Seeing it is on more than one of his lists.

"Angus?" Merle calls through the door.

"Coming!" Angus hurries over and unlocks it for them. "Thanks for bringing back my notebooks." Angus takes them from Magnus and returns them to their rightful place on his shelf. He had already cleaned up the other books, and they are now stacked on the floor to try and straighten the pages.

"Uh, can we come in?" Taako asks.

"Hm. Yes," Angus says, deciding to leave out a goof at their expense.

"Thanks, kid." Merle walks past the doorway and Angus is overcome with a sense of dread that he shakes away. They went out of their way to do something nice for him! They're not going to make fun of his Caleb Cleveland poster— 

"Who's this goofy-looking dude?" Taako asks, and _oh no they're going to make fun of his Caleb Cleveland poster_. It's the cover of the first book (Angus’s favorite) showing Caleb sitting at a table in an old-fashioned diner, surrounded by books and papers. The text above the image reads "Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop and the Case of the Devil's Diner". Signed on the poster is the author's signature—just the letters G M.

"That's Caleb Cleveland—"

"No, duh." Taako rolls his eyes. "I mean, why does he look like that?" Ah, of course. The official artwork for the Caleb Cleveland series is notoriously bad.

"I bet I could do better," Taako says, sticking up his nose. He grabs the purple marker from the whiteboard and begins to doodle. Magnus and Merle set off to explore the room.

"Didja know that jasmine can help relieve headaches?" Merle mutters, standing in front of Angus’s plant. He runs his fingers over the leaves. Magnus shoos him away from the flowers.

"Really? I bought it to help me fall asleep at night, but I don't think it's working very well," Angus says.

"Finished!" Taako shouts, interrupting them and stepping back from the whiteboard.

The masterpiece now occupying the board is a stick figure drawing of a boy that looks somewhat similar to Angus, with large round glasses and a newsboy cap. The only differences are the straight hair with messy bangs and the lack of defined clothing.

"Bam. Caleb Cleaver, Boy Wonder. You're welcome," Taako boasts, signing his name below the drawing. The words "Taako, you know, from TV" took up more space than the drawing itself.

"Thank you, sir," Angus laughs. "It's much better."

"Obviously."

Magnus coughs and points his thumb at the door. "Not to cut this short, but we should get going." He punctuates this statement with a pointed look towards Merle and Taako.

"Oh! Yes, yeah, uh… yep," Taako agrees. Merle looks confused. They leave, whispering as they walk out the door. Angus waves goodbye and gets back to work.

His birthday was still a week away. _This was going to be a long week_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2! thanks for all the kind comments <3

Angus wakes up and glances at his calendar. It's his birthday! He knew, of course, he could barely fall asleep last night (he's 11 now! He stayed up until midnight, even though he was pretty sure he wasn't born at midnight anyways).

Angus grins at the drawing of Caleb on the whiteboard. He keeps a hand on his hat to keep it on his head as he goes to breakfast, practically skipping.

He walks back to his room after breakfast, face burning. It hasn't even been 30 minutes, it shouldn't be a big deal, but nobody mentioned his birthday. Not one person! Not even Brad. Brad remembers everyone's birthdays! Maybe he has reminders set up on Fantasy Facebook and doesn't get any for Angus because Angus is only 11 and isn't old enough for Fantasy Facebook (he's older but still not old enough, never old enough).

Nevermind that. He shakes his head to clear his mind before he walks down the hallway where the THB dorm is. They pass him, wave, and don't say anything about his birthday. Maybe after you turn 10, birthdays stop being a big deal and nobody told him? Maybe his 11th birthday is supposed to be just like every other day.

Angus decides to hide in his room for the rest of the day. Thankfully, it's a weekend, so he doesn't have work, but he isn't sure what he has left to do other than work. He could reread his Caleb Cleveland novels, maybe, but he needs to do something.

He would make a list, but he doesn’t know what to write about. He reviews some mystery notes idly, scribbling new bullet points with a shaky hand. The box of tissues next to him is steadily being emptied.

His Stone of Farspeech vibrates and he picks it up. "Hello? Angus Mcdonald, Boy Detective speaking."

"Hey, Ango! The Director wants you to go down to the library, she's got, uh—" Taako's voice falters on the other end of the line. "She's got some super important files she needs you to look over."

Angus slumps in his chair. "Thank you, sir," he says, his voice meek. "I'll go do that now. Bye." He hangs up and throws himself face-first into his pillows.

It's his birthday! And nobody remembered! He kicks his legs in the air for a bit like a petulant child (which he is not) before getting up. The Director wanted him in the library, and so the library is where he shall be.

He peeks around the door to see the Director sitting at one of the tables. He waves nervously and sits down in front of her, pushing his glasses up his face.

"Hello, ma'am! Taako said you had some files for me?" He wondered what they were. What was so important that she needed him on a weekend? Maybe a new lead on a relic? He really didn't feel like going planetside today, much less performing an investigation. Perhaps he could convince his chaperone (he didn't know why he needed a chaperone, but the Director wouldn't let him go planetside without one) to let him stop by the book store—the tabaxi who worked there, Tom, was always very nice and offered him free cookies if he chased the mice away.

"Yes, the… important files. Here." The Director smiles and grabs a folded sheet of paper. She slides it across the table. Angus takes it and inspects the cover.

It's a goofy doodle in purple gel pen, similar to the 'Caleb Cleaver: Boy Wonder' drawing, except this one is of Angus and the other members of the Bureau—the Director, Taako, Magnus, Merle, Killian, and Carey. Avi, Johann, Brad, Leon, and Davenport are included in red pen, in a far more blocky style—probably Magnus's doing. Angus is holding his Fantasy Scooby-Doo umbrella, and sparks are shooting out the tip. Words are written in a swirling script originating from his umbrella reading "HAPPY BIRTHDAY  ANGO ANGUS MCDONALD, THE WORLD'S GREATEST (BOY) DETECTIVE".

Angus grins. They didn't forget. He feels foolish for ever thinking they might. It was just meant to be a surprise, of course! With his detective skills, he wonders how he didn't notice sooner (he knows why, but he doesn’t want to think about it).

He opens the card. On one side is a small envelope attached to the paper. The other side looks like the back of a yearbook, all different colors and handwriting meshing together.

In the same purple pen from the cover, written in swooping cursive: "happy birthday ango, maybe I'll teach u how to cast dancing lights next time we have a magic lesson -taako from tv"

In red, written in messy letters that give off the impression the writer was holding the pen incorrectly: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! STOP BY MY DORM, I MADE YOU A DUCK! (I PROMISE THERE ARE NO GOOFS) -MAGNUS"

In green, written in a slanting combination of print and script: "Happy birthday,  son kid. I hope it's one of the best. -Merle Hitower"

In a dark, sparkling blue pen, written in neat cursive: "Happy Birthday, Angus. 11 years old! You're almost a teenager—are you going to have to change your title to 'Teen Detective'? -Madam Director"

In a forest green color with blocky writing: "A year older! Congrats, kiddo. Keep it up. -Killian"

In cyan, curling print: "Happy 11th! Sorry for teaching Magnus how to break locks. -Carey :)"

In a sort of maroonish shade: "Happy birthday, Angus! Stop by and say hi sometime? -Avi"

In a yellow that was difficult to read on the white background: "I wrote you a birthday song, but I accidentally fed it to the Voidfish. Sorry. Hope you have a great one, though. -Johann"

In simple black print: "Happy birthday, Angus! You still have a few more years until you can legally work here without it being child labor, but you're getting there! Have a great day! -Brad Bradson, HR"

In neat, pink handwriting: "Stop by the Fantasy Gachapon. The Director'll get you an extra token for your birthday. -Leon the Artificer"

In the Director's blue pen, but starkly different handwriting: "Davenport! Davenport Davenport! -Davenport"

Angus is about to cry. A good cry, this time, though. He looks up at the Director, eyes watering, and she smiles softly. "Look in the envelope."

He does, and he would scream if they weren't in a library. His face hurts from smiling. He might be tearing up a little bit. Inside the envelope are seven tickets to see "Caleb Cleveland: Kid Cop and the Case of the Devil's Diner: The Musical".

"Seven?" He asks, incredulous. These things are expensive!

The Director reaches out and places her hand over his. "For you, Taako, Merle, Magnus, Carey, Killian, and me," she says.

"B-but…" Angus isn't sure what he's going to say. Are you sure you want to go? Won't you be bored? Or annoyed?

"The Tres H—er, Taako, Magnus, and Merle came up with it. I'm sure it will be fun."

Angus stands up and throws his arms around the Director in a tight hug. "Where are they?" he asks.

"Probably in their dorm. You should go find them," she says. He nods and runs off, but not before squeezing her waist one last time.

"Thank you," he whispers.

"Sirs?" Angus calls, knocking on the door to their dorm. It swings open and Angus sees Taako, wearing an apron over his clothes. He gives Angus a pat on the head and slips back into the room, through a door presumably leading to the kitchen.

"Hey!" calls Magnus. "Are you here for the duck? Because I haven't finished it yet, give me like five minutes—"

"I was just here to say thank you for the gift! My father always told me to write thank you notes, but I don't have any nice stationery so I figured this would be okay."

"You're good, kid. Write us a thank you note for sitting through two hours of whatever play we're being forced to go to," Merle grumbles.

"It's a musical," Angus corrects him.

"Whatever." Angus almost apologizes before he sees the fond smile on Merle's face.

Suddenly, the lights dim and Taako steps out of the kitchen holding a tray of cupcakes with blue icing, a lit candle in each one. The air is filled with the familiar scent of burning wax, a smell which he only experienced at his grandfather's house. It's one of his favorites. He files that thought away for a future list.

Taako, Magnus, and Merle sing for him, not exactly in unison and nowhere near in harmony. Still, Angus feels a sense of belonging and settles down on the couch next to Merle. Magnus gets up from his desk to join them, handing a small wooden duck to Angus, who grins and puts it in his pocket. He'll attach it to something later, a bracelet or a keychain.

"They’re not macrons, but I figured they’re more appropriate for a birthday. Make a wish," Taako says, setting the tray down in front of them. He sits down on the armrest of the couch, pulling off his oven mitts.

Angus closes his eyes and makes a wish.

_ I wish that I never have to leave my family. I wish that I never have to forget them. _

He opens his eyes.

"What'd you wish for?" Magnus asks.

"I can't tell you, sir," Angus says. "Then it won't come true."

He doesn't want to risk it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! i really hope you liked this fic, if you did, leave a comment! it could literally be a quote and a keysmash and it would make my day thank u...  
> also let me know if you caught any mistakes bc i am so nervous posting this lmao


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